The use of combat drones overseas divides Congress, but not in the usual partisan way.

Supporters of the “war on terror” in both parties tend to support the use of unmanned aircraft that often try to assassinate terrorism suspects. But libertarian Republicans have teamed up with civil liberties-backing Democrats to oppose the drones.

Now, the partisan trenches have been crossed by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D – Ohio, and Rep. Ron Paul, R – Texas, in order to force the administration to release its legal justification.

The two mavericks who are leaving Congress at year’s end have introduced a resolution of inquiry — legislation that is used to compel specific documents from the administration, and must be considered by the committee of jurisdiction, or on the House floor, within 14 legislative days.

Since the legislation was introduced on November 28, it could come before the House this year, which means that the administration will be forced to turn over the legal justification it uses for the strikes, including any memos from the Office of Legal Counsel.

“Thus far, the administration has refused to release the memo or any documents, despite multiple requests from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. Intelligence operations that have virtually no transparency, accountability or oversight raise serious legal questions, particularly when such programs may constitute possible violations of international law or the Constitution of the United States,” Kucinich said in a press statement.

Both Kucinich and Paul oppose the use of drones “because they increase radicalization among the population of the countries we use them in, violate the U.S. Constitution, kill innocent people and stain our nation’s moral consciousness.”

Autonomous attack drones will be with us by 2047, according to the US military, who’s newly released “Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047″ report states that the US Air Force will have a drone that could fly over a target and then make the decision whether or not to launch an attack, all without human intervention.

On this, the US Air Force said:

“Advances in AI will enable systems to make combat decisions and act within legal and policy constraints without necessarily requiring human input.”

Scary is the word today, because that line ‘without human intervention’ means no rationale or ethical boundaries to be followed by the drone.

Whats more, if anybody has seen Stealth or the Terminator, this all sounds way too close for comfort, being that technology could one day take us over, with robots enslaving us like cattle (Moooh?).

You need to be a member of Attack of The Drones to add comments!

Wholly Crap! I had know idea there was so much information regarding the 'DRONE PROJECT'. It would appear the UN was unable (imagine that) to stop the use of drones unless the purpose was to stop the 'private person' from using the drone and only allow governments to use such anti-human machine. Besides, since 2013 the money to be made on drones has grown astronomically..., the drone killing have and will continue.

The Drone Papers | 15 Oct 2015 | The Intercept has obtained a cache of secret documents detailing the inner workings of the U.S. military's assassination program in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia. The documents, provided by a whistleblower, offer an unprecedented glimpse into Obama's drone wars. https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/the-assassination-complex/

Military Drone Crashes Near School in PA JONESTOWN, Pa. - An unmanned aerial vehicle, commonly known as a drone, crashed near a school and a hotel in Lebanon County, military officials said. No one was injured when the RQ-7 Shadow drone crashed around 3:30 p.m.